No Drinks Allowed
by agent iz hyper
Summary: Morgana wants revenge... again. She comes up with what she sees as a completely foolproof plan... again. So she holds someone hostage... again. Only, this time, she's got Gwaine. And she's chewed off a bit more than she could swallow. FRIENDSHIP FIC ONLY
1. And the Fun Begins

**No Drinks Allowed**

Summary: Morgana wants revenge... again. She comes up with what she sees as a completely foolproof plan... again. So she holds someone hostage... again. Only, this time, she's got Gwaine. And she chewed off a bit more than she could swallow.

Genres: Humour, Friendship, Hurt/Comfort.

Characters: Gwaine, Morgana, Merlin, Arthur and the other Knights of the Round Table.

_A/N: _This particular plot-bunny viciously attacked my brain after I read a certain drabble by Ultra-Geek (chapter 4 of _One Hundred_). Only my story doesn't have Gwaine/Morgana (unless you want it to be, I guess... I know I don't, ha). My plot bunny started as: OMG! What if Morgana does catch Gwaine? And he's held hostage! And Arthur and Merlin and the others have to save him! And the whole time he's making random cracks making demands for his ale! And… You get the idea. It grew. And grew. And grew some more.

It was originally gunna be purely a crack!fic. Then I realised it'd have to be slightly more serious for it to work. But it's still humorous. (Well, it's intended to be). But that means it has plot holes and inconsistencies which I'm not too bothered about 'cause I just kinda wrote this on a whim without going back and changing and editing things to make it perfect. It's a go-with-the-flow kind of story. So don't ask me where Morgana got all those guards or why she's staying … wherever it is. I honestly have no answer.

On that happy note, read on. This A/N was pretty long. Meet ya at the bottom!

.:':.

**Chapter One **

If anyone asked Gwaine if he ever worried about getting into serious trouble before he became a knight, he would have laughed and offered to get them a tankard of mead - which he most likely couldn't afford. If anyone asked him if he worried about getting into serious trouble with a crazed sorceress _after _becoming a knight, he would've reacted the same way - only this time he'd be able to pay for the drink.

But if anyone asked Gwaine if he felt seriously worried after he got kidnapped and held against his will in some mysterious place or other by aforementioned witch... well, he would have laughed still. Unfortunately, evil witch kidnappers don't offer mead or wine or cider or even pickled eggs to their hostages, so getting the person a drink was out of the question. Gwaine doesn't get worried, he would have said. He gets drunk.

Again, unfortunately, that wasn't possible. So he settled for the next best thing - annoying the hell out of his kidnapper. If he was to be held in a dull, boring, lifeless cell, he might as well have some fun, right?

.:':.

When Gwaine opened his eyes, the first thing he noticed was all the grey. So he sat up and looked around and saw... more grey. That was odd, he gathered. He was pretty sure that the world wasn't naturally grey, and he wasn't colourblind, if he remembered correctly... But then again, Gwaine had had a fair amount of drinks at that odd little tavern (judging by the way the room spun when he sat up and the ground tilted in what he thought was an uncommon way) and his memory wasn't usually up-to-scratch after that.

_Ow_, was his next thought. Why did his head throb? It wasn't just the familiar throb of a hangover, he knew that much. In fact, it felt like someone had chucked a sledgehammer at his head and then proceeded to drag him all the way here by his feet so his poor, aching head could hit any dangerous objects on the road.

And there goes thought number three (this can't be good for his headache): where exactly was _here_? All he'd figured out was it was grey. And there was one of those huge, daunting, stone cell doors with a little barred window in the middle and no sign of a handle. On this side, at least.

Gwaine deducted that no handle on _his _side of the door must mean that he was on the _in_side. He felt proud at the deduction. He also felt hungry. He couldn't quite remember if he'd eaten anything at that tavern, though he didn't exactly try very hard. It was hard to think when one had a head like the inside of a drum and a mouth like a badger's armpit. Then Gwaine proceeded to laugh out loud and make a mental note to thank Merlin for telling him about that incident. When he saw him.

Which went back to the question: _Where was he? _

Then the sound of heavy boots marching towards the door reached him, and the knight managed to clamber to his feet (using the wall's helpful support, of course). His hand automatically went to the sword holster at his waist and grabbed thin air. He looked down to see why. His sword wasn't there.

Right. Of course. If he was kidnapped and held hostage by whoever-it-was, they wouldn't want him to fight his way out with his undeniable skill. Even if he did feel so drunk that he'd be lucky to know which side was the blade and which was the pommel.

He heard the clanking of keys unlocking the door (really, what was the point of locking it if there was no knob on this side anyway?) and stood up straight. He leaned back on the wall, crossed his arms across his chest, flicked his hair out of his face and put on his best grin. After all, they do say first impressions are often the lasting impressions.

The door swung open after what seemed like a lot of unnecessary metallic noises. (Finally. How bloody long does it take to unlock a door?). In marched what looked like a typical brainless, mind-controlled, all-brawn-no-brain, muscleman guard. He looked in, glared at Gwaine the best he could (the knight grinned wider) and beckoned him forward, all the while pertaining the air of someone who expected to be intimidated from.

"You're wanted," he growled.

Gwaine shrugged and sauntered to the door, choosing to ignore the man's forgotten pleasantries. He looked around the corridor and was disappointed. _More _grey! Couldn't these evil types go for a more inviting colour? What about light blue? Green?

He also took notice of two stoic-faced, heavily-built men standing on either side of his door. Guards, he presumed. Or statues. Gwaine felt a curiosity towards which one they were, so as he passed by he waved a hand experimentally in front of one the guard-statue's face. He was glared at.

That settled it then, the knight thought cheerfully as he let himself be led away. They were certainly guards.

"So, where exactly am I wanted?" he asked casually as the muscleman grabbed his arm roughly and pulled him forward. It didn't do much to help his spinning head, but Gwaine didn't complain. No way would he give him the satisfaction.

No reply.

"Nice place you've got here. Very grey."

Nothing.

They turned a corner and went up some dark, winding steps. All the way, they hadn't passed a single room or door. Gwaine figured he was probably a special case, having gotten the only room down there. The stairs stopped at an intricate, not-grey door. It opened by itself and in they marched.

Correction: The _guard _marched. Gwaine stepped along quite willingly (he figured that as soon as the guard let go of his arm the spinning would catch up to him and he'd tumble to the floor – not very dignified for a knight of his standard or skill), still trying to figure out where he was, and a new question that had arisen to him: when and how did they catch him, and why didn't he remember it? He guessed he was very, very drunk at the time.

Funny how that was the answer to a lot of his problems.

That aside, he looked around the new room, which was much bigger and more colourful than the cell. That wasn't to say it _was _colourful, just that there was more than just grey in here. That was a relief to Gwaine. He was about to go mad from the sheer greyness of it all.

It was a wide, circular room, with not that much in it. There was a large window to one side, though, which was half closed off by a fancy, thick curtain; the half that was open showed signs of sunlight outside, which didn't surprise Gwaine completely, though it did unnerve him a bit that he had been knocked out for the whole night and the beginning of the morning. Along the wall on the other side were bookcases and shelves, all holding suspicious-looking items. Come to think of it, Gwaine noticed that the whole room held a varying assortment of shifty gadgets and plants and books. _Dark magic_, he realised.

Then the muscleman gave him a shove, predictably making him stumble forward a few steps (somehow managing to stay on his feet despite the urge to hug the ground). He looked up and saw her. Of course. Who else would it be?

"How nice of you to join us, _Sir _Gwaine," said Morgana, voice dripping with malice and eyes full of venom.

Gwaine smiled charmingly at her and did the hair-flip thing again. Funny; she didn't swoon like they all did. "Hey. I don't believe we met properly last time. You're the evil witch who blew up half the castle, right? It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Gwaine's amused grin grew wider and more mocking with each line. He knew staying quiet would be the smart thing, but... well, he _is _Gwaine. And if the smart thing would be _not _antagonizing your captor, then he did the not smart thing. There were enough witty remarks in Gwaine's brain to make the she-witch wish she'd never messed with _this _particular Knight of Insurmountable Skill and Devilishly Good Looks.

Morgana snarled and, with a flash of golden eyes, flicked her hand at him. The knight fell forward on all fours suddenly as the heavy chains and manacles that appeared around his wrists and ankles weighed him down. Gwaine sat back and studied them carefully. They seemed to be made of stronger stuff than your average chains. He looked back up at the witch, eyebrows raised.

"So, what exactly have you got planned for me?"

This time Morgana smirked (surprise, surprise) and slowly circled him. "I can't tell you that, now, can I? You just wait until your noble friends get here and we'll have a lot of fun." She stopped in front of the knight and added dangerously. "I look forward to it."

Gwaine groaned to himself. This was a trap for Arthur and Merlin, _of course_. What else?

"You'll be waiting a while then," he said conversationally, shooting her his second-most disarming grin that had lured in various people in the past. She _still _remained un-swayed. "I doubt Arthur's going to send out a search party just 'cause I've been missing a few hours. He knows me better than that."

Morgana adopted a superior look of 'oh but I know something you don't', which Gwaine did not like. "I'm sure as soon as he gets my message he'll come rushing in to help, along with your other little knightly friends… and of course, _Merlin_." She hissed his name with pure acid latching onto her tones.

"Right. You hang onto that little hope if it makes you happy," Gwaine snorted. In the back of his mind, he hoped his friends came and got him soon (and knowing them, they would), but he knew that it was dangerous for them all, thanks to this damned witch.

The damned witch in question looked peeved off by his retorts; she held her hand out at Gwaine again (he watched in unveiled curiosity – whether that was because he really was unafraid or just too hung-over to determine the damage she could do to him, he didn't really know), eyes flashing gold again, and hissed, "_Astrice_!" And the knight was thrown back against the wall.

_Ouch_.

Gwaine groaned and attempted to lift his head. He managed to get up briefly, before the weight of the chains unbalanced him and he fell again. He could feel the back of his head throbbing. If he made it out of this place with his brain and skull still intact, it'll be a miracle, he thought.

"That'll teach you to keep your mouth shut," Morgana snarled, dropping her hand. "And if it doesn't, then we can have some _fun _while we wait for those noble idiots."

"Well then, I'll go make myself comfortable for the wait," he told her, plastering on the best grin he could manage in his dizzied state. "You don't happen to have any mead, do you? We can't have fun without it."

Morgana stared at him, obviously wondering why he wasn't at least asking her to leave the others alone and deal with him instead, or moaning about not wanting the torture. Then she scowled and waved her hand at the silent guard to drag Gwaine back to his lonesome grey cell. He didn't put up a fight.

.:':.

Back in Camelot, the other Knights of the Round Table were getting ready for practice, first thing in the morning.

Arthur frowned as he surveyed the four knights in front of him. "Where's Gwaine?"

The question made them all look around as they realised that their friend was missing.

"He was going to the tavern last night," Merlin put in helpfully from behind them, where he was setting up their training equipment. "Maybe he slept in."

"And you didn't see fit to remind him he had _training _this morning, did you _Mer_lin?" asked Arthur heavily.

Merlin chose to ignore his tone of voice. "He knew he had training. He even said he'll only get a couple of drinks so that you don't eat him alive if he shows up with a hangover."

"If Gwaine says 'a couple of drinks', he generally means 'a couple dozen drinks', though," Leon told him, the barest hint of amusement in his voice. The young warlock paused and looked at him.

"Well... he's probably just a little late."

Arthur rolled his eyes and told the four other knights to get into position. "We're starting without him. If he hasn't turned up in ten minutes, Merlin, you will go to his room and drag him here, drunk or not," he ordered.

His manservant shrugged and nodded, then watched his friends train.

Less than ten minutes in, however, they were interrupted by a messenger running towards them, waving his hands for attention. Arthur stopped mid-strike and lowered his sword, watching warily as the man caught up with them, another man in tow.

"Excuse me… Sire… a message for you," the messenger panted, leaning forward on his knees for breath. The man with him – who Merlin recognized as the innkeeper of the local tavern – stepped forward, bowing in front of the prince. The other knights crowded around, curious.

"What is it?" asked Arthur with a sense of foreboding.

The innkeeper took a breath and relayed what had happened the night before. "Last night, Sire, one of your knights was at my tavern as usual – Sir Gwaine."

The sense of foreboding battled with a sense of exasperation as Arthur wondered briefly if Gwaine had gotten himself in another troublesome brawl.

"A strange man was sitting with him after he had had a fair amount of drinks and they appeared to have gotten into an argument. Then the man knocked Sir Gwaine a heavy blow to the head and called in ten other men like him – all dressed in black... We had no chance to stop them."

Arthur cursed silently. He had a fair idea just who was behind this and he didn't like it one bit.

"The man cornered me and told me to inform you Sire, that… that the Lady Morgana has Sir Gwaine."

He paused as the prince swore out loud this time, looking aggravated at the news. Merlin also detected the betrayal that always showed up in Arthur's eyes at the mention of his traitorous half-sister.

"What else did he say?" he demanded the man, who averted his eyes from the scowling prince.

"He said that La- she gives you until sunset today to get there or Sir Gwaine will… suffer consequences. He gave directions to the place they are holding him, Sire." The innkeeper handed Arthur a folded piece of parchment and bowed again, stepping back.

Arthur opened the note and skimmed over it, eyes dark. He nodded to the men in dismissal then turned back to his knights, who were for the most part looking concerned for their fellow friend.

"We have to go to him as soon as possible, Sire," Lancelot spoke up, saying what was on the rest of their minds. "There's no knowing what she will do to him in the meantime."

Arthur nodded again and marched straight towards the castle, the others in tow. He gave the knights orders while he went to inform the Council quickly of the problem.

"Lancelot, Percival, get six horses ready. Elyan, Leon, you two come with me to the Council." He glanced back at Merlin as he jogged up the steps into the castle. "Merlin, make sure the horses are fully equipped and we're not missing anything. I'll meet you all at the gates in fifteen minutes."

"How far is the place?" Merlin asked him before he went off after Percival and Lancelot.

Arthur shook his head with a grimace. "At least six hours' ride from here from what I can figure."

Merlin frowned as he sprinted towards the stables, glancing up at the sky as he did so. They would be lucky to get there just in time… He hoped Gwaine was alright.

.:':.

_A/N:_ So? How's that for a beginning? So I was re-reading this bit and I realised – gasp-shock-horror-blasphemy! Gwaine didn't do his hair-flip! :O Absolute BLASPHEMY I tell you! So I fixed that up. I am now happy with this. :) See? Happy face! You know what else makes me happy? _Reviews_! Then I'll be :D :D :D! Triple-y times happy! Cool, right? *hinthint*

Gwaine's character might have been a little off, but yours would too if some evil bad dudes knocked you on the head pretty hard while you were heavily drunk. Give the guy some slack. And, yes, I am aware that Morgana is kinda OOC and cliche-villain-ish. Morgana's supposed to be like that. She's pissed off. And stuff. And evil bad guys (er – chicks?) are all tough n' stuff n' all that. And don't think their plans through well enough. You get the idea, I'm sure.

And a BIG special thanks to both Dodo and Rei for reading over this and telling me what they thought! (that's Dodo.123, and Renae Shnucumbs). (And Rei - yes, I know I didn't 'oomph' it up. It didn't work out well. *shrugs* Thanks, though.)

Gwaine is epicness.

Peace out, dudes and dudettes~

izzy.


	2. Oh the Horror

_**No Drinks Allowed**_

_A/N:_ Oh. My. God. 11 reviews. All within only a FEW HOURS of putting that first chapter up! And about twice as many favourites/alerts. Thank you so much, guys! I'm stoked, really. :)

Well, here's the second chapter, as promised...

.:':.

**Chapter Two**

To his credit, Gwaine was doing some pretty hard thinking. After about half an hour in the cell by himself, his headache had reduced slightly and the world no longer spun with each movement. So he took the chance to study the cell more carefully.

It was an averagely-sized cell; nothing impressive. There were no windows at all (except for that small one in the door) so there was that possible escape route gone. The floor and ceiling were hard and smooth (and grey, of course), though the brick grey walls did give a fair amount of foot- and hand-holds if he wanted to scale them. It was rather hard to scale walls when you had manacles and chains holding both your wrists and ankles together, though. And on the wall opposite the door were chain-holders, but the guard hadn't locked his manacles to them, obviously thinking he couldn't escape anyway so there was no point.

Gwaine smiled grimly to himself as he considered what a mistake that could prove to be on their part – if he could manage to think up of an escape plan that had at least a sixty percent chance of working, that is.

After fifteen minutes or so, in which Gwaine went over possible escape routes in his head, he again heard the clanking of metal against the door's lock. The knight turned to the door, gaze curious and witty comments already making their way to his lips.

A different guard to last time came in, holding a tray of food.

Well, if you could call that _food_, Gwaine thought to himself in distaste. On the tray was a chunk of stale-looking bread that was probably enough for four mouthfuls, less than a handful of under-cooked beans and a cup of water. The guard leered at Gwaine unpleasantly and left the tray on the floor. He turned to leave with a taunt;

"Better hope you can survive on these tidbits 'till sunset, knightling. It could well be your last meal," he laughed softly but menacingly, shutting the door with a slam. He peered through the barred window to give Gwaine a smirk.

"I sure hope not," Gwaine chuckled, sparing him a half-amused, half-hostile look which he pulled off rather well. "I was hoping the fair Lady Morgana had taken the hint and sent me a couple of tankards of ale. Nothing like a cold drink to make you comfortable, eh?" He sent the snarling face of the guard a cheery grin and started eating.

There was nothing like mocking your captors to put you in a good mood. Well, except for a nice, cold, alcoholic beverage, of course.

But then, that put him in a good mood every time, regardless of the situation, so it was a bit of a moot point. Gwaine reckoned that by the time he got out of here, he would have gone through some serious withdrawal issues.

He slowly ate, trying to preserve the food for as long as he could even though his growling stomach demanded him to shove the whole plate into his mouth, and trying his best to get used to the chains confining his movements.

Gwaine thought about what would happen when the knights and Merlin got here. He didn't doubt that Arthur would get all four of the others with him. Of course they would know it was a lure, a trap so that Morgana could get her hands on the prince and off him. Considering the last million or so failed attempts that Merlin had informed him of, Gwaine wasn't too concerned about her succeeding in _that_ at least. But there was no denying the terrifying amount of power she could unleash on them if she lost it completely. Even when suffering a hangover and not completely steady, the knight wasn't as clueless as people seemed to think he was. He'd taken note of how easy it was for the witch to lose her temper and let loose with it a barrage of power that could knock more than just the wind out of anyone on the receiving side.

As for himself, well, Gwaine wasn't too worried. He could handle pain and any smirks that came with it. After all, his duty as a knight of Camelot – and moreover, a Knight of the Round Table (as they'd recently been called – upon hearing it the first time, Gwaine had remarked incredulously that "out of all the amazing skills and traits we've got, they decide to name us after _the table_?" Though he had to admit, it did have a ring to it) – meant that he wasn't to give away any incriminating information about the kingdom or the royal family or anything really, under pain of death.

Or something of that sort. Gwaine hadn't exactly paid attention to all the knightly 'codes of honour'. Being a knight was easy enough anyway – wear the Pendragon coat of arms, make sure you can sword-fight well enough that Arthur doesn't feel the need to criticize your wrong stance or moves every five minutes, show up to training on time, don't smart-mouth the Prince you swore loyalty to at every chance you get, don't stay up in taverns when you have training the next morning, know what to do when you're caught in situations like these…

Who was he kidding? Half of those he just made up – and they were the ones he didn't even think about _once_ before he did them. It was what made him such a brilliant and unique knight. Right?

But knightly business aside, Gwaine remembered the guard saying something about 'until sunset'. That must be when Morgana's message told the others to get here. He knew he probably woke up around seven to eight hours to sunset – judging by what he glimpsed of outside from the evil witch's room – and he didn't know how far this place was from the kingdom, but he guessed it was a good few hours. It made sense that Morgana would give them such a close deadline, so they could ride here hard and fast. By the time they reached this place they would be exhausted, and that put Morgana at an advantage.

If only he could get a sword in his hands and get rid of the couple of guards at his door. If he found a way to escape this place, he could go outside and – if he could guess which way Camelot was – find a horse and ride out with the hopes of intercepting the other knights before they could get the chance to get themselves caught.

Or he could just sit here like some damsel in distress and wait for the knights in shining armour to come rescue him. Gwaine shook that idea out almost as soon as he thought of it – _Arthur_ was the Princess; _he_ was the dashing knight on a mission.

He wisely chose to ignore the fact that the_ Princess_ was the one almost certainly leading the group coming to break him out.

As he pushed the tray back, now devoid of any traces of food (crumbs and all), the beginnings of a plan settled in his mind. An undoubtedly _reckles_s plan, but those _were_ always the best to go with.

.:':.

"Do you have a _plan_, or are we just going to barge in, find Gwaine, knock out anyone in our way, and get out?" Merlin called to Arthur over the wind. The five knights and Merlin were riding their horses hard, determined as Arthur was to get a good head-start on this long journey. None of them liked the idea of Gwaine being in Morgana's clutches, even if he was strong and unlikely to break.

Arthur didn't answer at first. Then – "I'm working on it. But that's the general gist, yes."

"Great," Merlin muttered. Lancelot, riding next to him, heard and grinned at his friend, though it was rather strained.

"We _will _work something out," he told Merlin, convincing himself as well. "We always do."

"And if we don't?" Merlin's eyes were seriously concerned for the rugged knight, and he was shuddering to think what kind of… _things_ Morgana could be doing to him if she wanted any information. Not that she would, he thought grimly. She had enough as it is. This was almost certainly a lure to catch Merlin and Arthur. And while she was at it, inflict any torture she wanted on a trusted knight of Camelot as a sort of twisted revenge…

"If we don't, then you could always just get us out with your magic," Lancelot replied with a smile, lowering his voice at the last few words. Not that any of the others could hear them over the wind, but it was an automatic thing.

Merlin returned the smile briefly.

The six of them rode their horses on in a fast canter, mostly in silence. It was clear from one look at Arthur's face that he was thinking hard – not just about how they could break Gwaine out, but also how a confrontation with Morgana would go. Merlin knew the prince had tried not to think about her betrayal any more than he needed to over the past month or so, ever since the battle. He had more than enough on his mind, what with his father slowly but surely sinking away from them, and the pressure all falling on Arthur's shoulders as the Regent. The prince was never gladder that he had these five knights, and, yes, even Merlin, to support him now. Not that he'd be caught dead saying that. In fact, Arthur would almost rather face the Great Dragon again than admit that little fact out loud.

Not that he needed to, really. It was pretty obvious he felt that way.

Merlin, meanwhile, was busy thinking over what Lancelot had said. '_You could just get us out with your magic'_. He wondered whether, if they got caught, he would have the chance to help them escape without attracting attention to the fact that he had magic. It had happened before, and he thought – well, hoped, really – that it would happen again today. He wasn't ready yet to reveal his powers to Arthur or the knights just yet. The time was coming nearer, he knew that. But it was not now.

.:':.

Gwaine knew his only chance to escape would come when – or if – a guard came to take him out for some reason – or if they decided to give him more food. (Which he doubted.)

Or even better, mead. (Which he also doubted, though one can hope.)

And he _knew_ he had to stay alert while waiting for the next time someone would open his door, because he might not get the opportunity again, but his head was starting to act up again. This time, it was the knot on the back of his head that he'd received from Morgana's spell that was throbbing. He raised a hand (both hands went up, thanks to the chains) and felt the bump as best as he could. He winced as it seemed to pulsate angrily at the touch.

Great. Just _great._

So it was that during the _one_ moment when he _wasn't_ prepared or alert, the door swung open and two guards strode in – the muscleman from before and another huge guard. Gwaine swore inwardly and stood up, eyes wide and seemingly innocent.

"Does the Lady Morgana miss me already?" he quirked, the ever-ready handsome grin already there.

The new guard grabbed his arm and said gruffly, "Oh, yes. She decided it was time for a bit of entertainment, you could say." He bared his filthy teeth in a cruel grin at the knight and started pulling him out the door, with the other guard grabbing his right arm.

"As long as there's mead available, I'm happy. I'm an easy prisoner to please," he added with an alluring hair-flip.

The guard rolled his eyes (okay, so maybe not that alluring to him) and dragged him harder. Apparently he'd been walking too slowly for his liking.

Gwaine tried to wretch his arms from their grasps. "I can walk myself, thanks. No need to worry about me falling or anything." Of course, he was ignored. If anything, their grips became tighter, but Gwaine still struggled. He was pretty much being dragged as it is, thanks to his ankles being held together.

His captors' eyes were trained forward as they walked but Gwaine's were trailing down to the weapon belt of the guy on his left. There was a dagger there, just out of his reach. If he could distract them a moment…

"Oy, watch it!" the guard snarled out a moment later, pulling on Gwaine's arm. The knight straightened up and glared at his 'offending' feet for 'tripping him over'. His smirking mouth, however, spoke a different story.

He made a mental note to thank the guard later (_if_ this worked), as he slipped the dagger into his belt, covered by his jacket.

They reached Morgana's room once more, but this time it was empty, and instead of stopping there, the guards continued dragging him along to another room through there. It was smaller and darker, and Morgana was already standing inside, firing flames at something on the ground with her evil madwoman smirk. She hardly glanced up as the three walked in.

"Leave us," she ordered the guards, and they went out, shutting the door behind them. Gwaine looked around the room and saw a semicircle of flames on the ground, to the left side of the room. He didn't see any particular purpose for them, except for warmth, or décor. Somehow, he doubted it was either of them.

"Getting bored waiting, are we?" he drawled, leaning back on the cool stone door. He was also leaning away from the witch, because the fire in her eyes screamed 'Danger!' and for once, he paid attention to that.

Morgana's smirk grew wider and she twirled her hand over at the flames and they grew in size, almost licking the ceiling. Gwaine could feel the sweat on his skin and the immense heat radiating from the fire. Morgana didn't look at all ruffled, though that might have to do with the fact that she was the one controlling the fire. And the fact that she _did_ have an ice-cold heart.

"You could say that," she started, sounding almost normal if not for the gleam in her eyes and the ever-present smirk on her rouge lips. "You could be of some use to me, you know. Other than as bait, that is."

"Really?" Gwaine raised an eyebrow. Like he was going to tell this witch anything.

Morgana ignored him and slowly walked forward, looking him up and down. "As a knight of Camelot, you know of all the passages in and out of the castle. You know its most vulnerable weak points and how everything is run. And, of course, having you here means your dear friend Merlin will come, and where Merlin goes, Arthur goes."

"And you don't know any of those things, I suppose," he deadpanned. "Never mind the fact that you lived there for God-knows-how-long. You don't need to get any information from me. And you won't _be_ getting any information either way!" And with that, the rugged knight pushed himself off the wall, pulled the dagger out and threw it at the momentarily shocked witch, already pulling the door open before seeing if he struck her or not.

He should have checked, because at that moment, a sharp pain filled his body and Gwaine fell to the ground with a yell. He took a quick breath and looked up at the gold-eyed witch. His aim must have been off, due to the chains holding both his hands together, and the dagger was on the floor.

Morgana screamed a spell and Gwaine launched to the side swiftly, the blue-ish curse grazing the side of his right arm with a burning sensation. He made an attempt to leap forward and grab the dagger off the floor but Morgana threw him back again, this time harder than before. Gwaine let out a groan but tried getting up anyway, ignoring that spots were dancing in his eyesight and that the pain in his head had intensified threefold.

But of course he couldn't have it easy. He heard Morgana yell another curse – "_anbesettan héafodwylm cwealmnes ond módþréa__!_" – glimpsed the briefest flash of light, and then he was gone to a world of pain.

Pain filled his entire being – his very molecules vibrated with it, his heart pumped _pain_ throughout his body, and he was screaming, shouting for it to _stop_ before he could help himself. Fire burned in his veins and white-hot flames licked at his skin. He was melting, but he was freezing too, shaking uncontrollably. He clenched his teeth tight, conscious enough to will himself not to scream again, so he suffered in silence, writhing and inwardly begging for release.

Then it stopped.

"Wasn't that fun?" came the sickly sweet voice from somewhere above him. Or around him? He didn't know.

Gwaine's jaw clenched and he took deep steadying breaths before opening his eyes in a murderous glare. He was aware that his wrists were scratched and bleeding, probably from the manacles cutting at them. He also felt himself shaking still, but did his best to control it. The unendurable pain was gone, for now. He placed his hands firmly on the ground and pushed himself off, managing to get into a kneeling position, all without taking his glare away from the twisted sorceress in front of him.

Morgana gazed at him, a cruel humour in her eyes. She was probably waiting for him to break down, or at least to speak with a shaking voice.

However, what she got was not what she bargained for.

In a painfully controlled voice, still brimming with fury though, Gwaine spoke up: "Your sense of fun is pretty twisted, lady... And I'm still waiting for my ale. I told you, I don't have fun without it." He almost laughed there and then at the mingled look of shock, disbelief, and anger on her face. He was still upping her.

She stepped forward once and pointed at the dagger on the floor, making it rise and spin in the air. She spat out at the unfazed-looking knight, "Well, my fun isn't quite _over_ yet. You better hope your dear friends get here soon, for your sake."

Gwaine rolled his eyes and muttered "Fabulous" upon seeing the way she was eyeing the twirling dagger and himself. He wasn't going to like this.

Didn't mean he was going to give her the satisfaction of knowing.

.:':.

A/N: You know what? To all you sadistic Merlin-whumpers out there – _how the hell_ do you manage to write all that stuff? I hardly did anything to Gwaine but by the end there I was all "Omg what am I doing Gwaine I'm so sorry crap I feel bad _what the hell_?" Maybe I'm just not cut out for writing whump. *whimpers* Poor Gwaine. *hands Sir Gwaine the Knight of Insurmountable Skill and Devilishly Good Looks a BIG tankard of mead* There ya go! :D (BTW, I don't know if that spell makes much sense. I got it from the Old English translator site, but yeah. It means something like 'inflict burning pain, and suffer'. Yeah. That's the best I can do. *snort* I'd make such a bad evil chick. I can't even get a proper pain-inflicting spell.)

So what do you think of the characterization this time? Is it good? Horrible? (pfft, of course not.) Amazing? (duh.) Now that Gwaine is no longer very hung-over, he is much more… erm, better characterized? I think? Well, I figured if the she-witch was torturing him for info (really, she's just sadistic and angry and hence taking her anger out at him. She doesn't _need_ information. Does she?) he wouldn't give in and all that. Cuz he's cool. And he's Gwaine. 'Nuff said.

Review, mates. I _might_ just update faster, cuz the next chapter's already done… *waves chapter in your face tantalizingly* I know you _want_ to… And if that didn't work, then how about a li'l sneak-peek?

_"Wait." Lancelot stopped and held out a hand to tell them to be quiet. He looked around, eyebrows furrowed. "Hear that?"_

_The bickering pair paused and listened, only to hear the unmistakable sound of distinct marching feet and the clanking of metal heading towards them._

_"They're coming from there," both Lancelot and Merlin said, each pointing in opposite directions - one in front, the other behind them._

_Arthur glanced between them and cursed, taking a few steps to the side and pulling out his sword. "They've got us covered."_

Intrigued? ;)

Thanks again to Dodo for beta'ing this. :) (Got your net back yet? I'm anticipating your review :P)

~izzy ;D


	3. Amazingly Thought Out Planning

_**No Drinks Allowed**_

_A/N:_ THANK YOU so much for the reviews again last chapter! :D I love you guys. Seriously. You're awesome!

Here's hoping this chapter doesn't disappoint (though I should be worrying more about the next one… *glares at uncooperative scenes*). Cheers! :P

.:`:.

**Chapter Three**

It was Sir Leon who broke the long silence between the group. "Sire, I think we should stop for a few minutes."

Arthur looked back at him and slowed his mare. "Why?"

"The horses." It was Elyan this time. He slowed down too, and so did everyone else. "We've been riding them for a while, and they won't do us any good soon if they're too tired."

The prince then looked down at his mare and realised they were right. He nodded and slid off, looking around for a place off the track. "We'll rest there for a bit," he said, gesturing off where the trees covered a small clearing.

"How far are we from the place?" Merlin asked Arthur once they sank gratefully onto the soft ground.

Arthur glanced up at the position of the sun, then at the directions on the note (even though he'd memorized them by now) and replied, "Still about three hours away."

"Why would she go for Gwaine?" Lancelot spoke up, getting the rest of the knights' attention.

"I doubt she was going for any knight in particular," Merlin answered, because Arthur seemed too caught up in his own thoughts. "She just needed someone as bait. She must have known Gwaine's… tendencies to spend nights in the tavern."

"The whole world must know that by now, what with all the entertainment he provides in there," Leon muttered with a brief laugh.

"I think I know where she's holding him," said Arthur, breaking out of his reverie. Everyone's eyes turned on him as he told them of an old unused castle - or what remained of it - somewhere in an already deserted part of Camelot - a foolish move on her part, Arthur surmised, but she probably wanted to be closer so she could reach them faster in the case of plots like this. It wasn't large, from what he knew, but it was still sturdy enough and had holding cells underground as well as a series of tunnels and caves that ran under the building and led somewhere inside.

"Let me guess – you're the only one who knows this and there's no chance we'll get caught?" asked Merlin sarcastically, obviously thinking about another time when they followed Arthur's advice and tried getting in from underground caves. To be fair, though, that time Morgana had told Cenred and Morgause where they were. If not for her, they might have gotten through.

Arthur's glare told him to shut up _now_, so Merlin assumed he knew what he was talking about. "No, actually, I'm not the only one who knows about it. Anyone who's been trained for battle and learned all the known passages and ways around these buildings would know."

"True, but what if she expects us to go in from there?" Leon asked, his battle instincts honing in on any other possibilities and risks.

"We'll have to risk it," Arthur said firmly. "We can hardly barge in through the front door demanding her to release Gwaine and go."

"We can split up," Percival suggested, who had kept silent (as usual) during the discussion.

"Good idea," Merlin agreed. "Me, Arthur and Lancelot can go in through the caves, and Percival, Leon and Elyan can… be our backup in case things go horribly wrong like always." He seemed considerably happier about the idea of having back-up for once, instead of _all_ of them risking their necks.

Arthur rolled his eyes at him. "Last time I checked, _Mer_lin, _I_ was the one who handed out the orders."

"Well, were you thinking of anything different to what I suggested, _sire?"_ his servant asked innocently. Arthur glared. The knights didn't even bother trying to hide their amusement.

"Leon, Percival and Elyan, you three will station yourselves at a position where you can hear any big commotion going on," Arthur went on, ignoring the grins, which turned serious again. "If it sounds like they're attacking us in large numbers, you'll need a plan of action to assist us getting out…"

Arthur spent the next ten minutes drawing a rough sketch of the place and outlining each of their tasks and the importance of improvisation once they get in there, because as he said, "Once we're inside, we're in enemy territory. They can lock us in and corner us and we wouldn't know a way out. Each one of us must stay alert and watch each other's backs." He paused and looked each knight and Merlin in the eye. "We are going to get Gwaine out of there. _And_ ourselves. Understood?"

There were firm nods all around, and then Arthur stood and declared that they should start riding off again.

.:`:.

When Gwaine finally regained consciousness, he had to take a while to get his bearings. The last thing he remembered was the feeling of several sharp things piercing him and something warm running down his face, dripping onto the stone floor and painting it red. Then the darkness took over and he was knocked out (no, he had _not_ passed out, and _certainly_ not fainted.)

Now that he was awake again, Gwaine fully expected to be hit with another mind-shattering spell, or feel the tip of the dagger cutting into his skin, or white-hot flames inches from his fingers. But there was nothing, to his immense relief. There was only so much torture a person - even a knight - can take before it became unbearable.

He was back in his cell, he now realized.

He thought back, trying to guesstimate just how long he'd been with Morgana. After the first little torture spell, she'd demanded him to tell her all the ways of infiltrating the castle that he knew of, under the threat of pain - by dagger. Of course, Gwaine knew a lot more about the castle's defenses than she - previous ward of Uther - could have known. Contrary to popular (re: Arthur's) belief, he actually did pay attention when the Prince was telling the knights these things. It was important for the security of the place and everyone in it, and they'd been trained thoroughly until it was drilled in their heads that under _no _circumstances at all - not the threat of a slow and drawn-out death, nothing - were they to spill about anything. Knights were trained to withstand pain, physical and mental, after all.

So, needless to say, Gwaine hadn't let out a single word about the castle's security. The witch had tried countless ways. She'd tortured him with magic. She'd had his shirt torn off and made the dagger nick and cut at his bare skin for every question he didn't answer (or generally just whenever she lost her temper at him – which was _a heck_ of a lot of times). She'd conjured more flames, smaller ones, and threatened to burn his fingers and scald his face. And after all that, Gwaine still kept sprouting mocking taunts ("That's your idea of torture? Really? No, seriously? I was expecting something more extravagant..." and "You might as well get those undying soldiers of yours to rip me apart... Oh, right, we got rid of them last time. I guess you don't have as much nasty tricks up your sleeves as your sister.")

That last comment had especially enraged her, and Morgana had let out a blast of red magic at him, making his face-plant the ground pretty damn hard. He had time to be conscious of the blood trailing down his face and the immense pain taking over his body before succumbing to the welcoming darkness. Although not in so many words; his main thought was "Ouch".

Gwaine sat up carefully and glanced down at the sound of clinking metal and something pulling at his wrists. It was those blasted chains. He needed to get rid of them. And then get a sword in his hands. And _then_ find a way out of this grey hellhole.

A sudden inspiration struck in the knight's mind. The guards outside his door had swords. And most likely the keys to these chains. And armor that he could borrow to get out. He just needed to get one of them rushing in here - no problem.

Foolproof.

Gwaine let a slightly cocky smirk grace his features. He got up, steady enough despite the hours (or was it mere minutes?) of torture, and staggered to stand behind the door. He thought for a moment before shrugging to himself.

Next second, the guards outside his door started as they heard the sudden loud yells and shouts coming from inside, along with an odd banging noise. They glanced at each other, then the one on the right moved forward and unlocked the door, rushing in to see what was going on.

Gwaine seized his chance at once. As soon as the guard stepped inside, looking confused when he didn't see anyone in his immediate line of sight, Gwaine rushed up behind him and aimed an effective punch to the back of his head. The guard fell forward in a faint and Gwaine quickly grabbed his sword.

He backed away swiftly as the second guard called out. The door opened again and he took a cautious step in, then stopped at the sight of his comrade on the floor.

Gwaine couldn't resist the opportunity; he reached out a hand from behind the guard and tapped him on the shoulder, a roguish grin in place. The guard turned around... and got tackled roughly to the ground for his troubles, banging his head on the ground as he fell.

The knight got up and grinned satisfactorily at his handiwork. That was much better (and tackling was always more fun anyway). But he didn't waste any time. As soon as both guards were blacked out on the floor, he knelt down and searched their belts for keys. He grabbed the couple on the first guard's belt and sat back to examine his manacles...

Only to realise they didn't have keyholes.

Gwaine cursed and glared at the chains. He should've realized - _Morgana_ was the one who made these _magically_ appear around his wrists, _of course_ they wouldn't have keyholes.

Maybe this plan wasn't quite as foolproof as he thought...

He shrugged and got to his feet anyway, grabbing three daggers from the guards and hiding them in his own belt. Then he stripped one guard of his armor and donned it himself - because he didn't think that walking around bare-chested would be a good idea; now, if the guards were all girls, that wouldn't be a problem... He grinned to himself and wield the sword for a bit to get the hang of using it with both hands chained together.

Gwaine grabbed the key that was for the cell door and locked the unconscious guards in when he walked out. He strode down the corridor, alert for any sound of someone approaching. There was nothing yet so he went on, walking past the staircase that led to Morgana's room, until he noticed another corridor to the right. He took it, taking note of the darkness, then froze as he came face-to-face with 50 armed guards.

Or face-to-_back_, to be more precise.

This just kept getting better and better, didn't it?

Gwaine slowly retraced his steps and backed around the corner, leaning on the wall and listening in for any clues on where they were heading. He caught a few murmurs; "Down in the tunnels..." and "She was right about that..." and the one that clarified his suspicions, "The prince and his knights, that's right... They're in for a nice surprise."

Gwaine smiled grimly, wondering whether to follow or not. He decided to go after them and help his friends if he got the chance.

.:`:.

It was a smart move on Merlin's part to suggest having Lancelot come with him and Arthur down the tunnels. He needed someone who knew about his magic and could distract the prince if Merlin had to do something incase their plan went wrong (and something _always_ went wrong)_._ And Lancelot filled those requirements.

The trio crept silently down the dimly lit tunnels, eyes wide and fully alert. For the moment.

"What exactly is the plan if we get caught somehow?" Merlin had to ask, because he had a bad feeling about this. And generally, his bad feelings turned out right.

Arthur shot him an aggravated glance. "Our plan is _not_ to get caught, Merlin. Just stick to that and you'll be fine."

His servant picked up on the fact that he eluded the question. "Yeah, I got that. But _if_ we get caught?"

"We won't," was the short, confident reply.

"Wait." Lancelot stopped and held out a hand to tell them to be quiet. He looked around, eyebrows furrowed. "Hear that?"

The bickering pair paused and listened, only to hear the unmistakable sound of distinct marching feet and metal heading towards them.

"They're coming from there," both Lancelot and Merlin said, each pointing in opposite directions - one in front, the other behind them.

Arthur glanced between them and cursed, taking a few steps to the side and pulling out his sword. "They've got us covered."

"We won't get caught, huh?" Merlin muttered to him, more automatically than anything. His mind was coming up with possible escape routes and plans... If he could somehow hold the guards off... Get Lancelot and Arthur away from here... He made up his mind, turning to peer around the tunnels carefully and quickly before finding what he needed. He said to Lancelot, "You and Arthur keep going - I'm pretty sure that passageway there leads into the castle. I'll distract them so they don't see you."

Lancelot nodded at him understandingly and started to head towards the passage, while the sound of the approaching guards increased. Arthur, however, didn't move. He stared at his manservant in disbelief.

"Are you trying to get yourself _killed_?" he demanded. "How can you possibly think _you_ can hold them all off? You can't even use a sword properly!"

The young warlock detected the concern behind his friend's words and smiled reassuringly at him - though a part of him wished Arthur would just listen to him for once and go. "Hey, I'm quite resourceful when I want to be, you know. Now _go_, they're getting closer, and I don't think it'll be too good if they see where you go."

Arthur looked like he was about to protest further but Lancelot grabbed his arm and pulled him along. "He's right, Arthur. Trust him."

That got the prince moving, and Merlin heaved a sigh of relief, thankful that Lancelot was here to help, and turned his attention back to the guards - who sounded like they were just around the corner, on both sides.

The warlock took a breath and steadied himself, ready to blast them away as soon as they came too close. Anything to keep them away from Arthur and his friends.

.:`:.

A/N: Foolproof. *snort* Yep. Oh-so-foolproof. That scene was a lot funnier in my head. Kudos to Dodo for the tackling idea. :D (I think I should just have a whole different part of my AN where I give you credit for your ideas and beta'ing :P)

Pfft, Arthur is such an idiot (though his concern for Merlin's adorable). Like, dude, Merlin doesn't _need_ to use a sword to save himself. He has _magic_. *waves hands around for emphasis* Oh, wait – what's that? You don't believe me? Oh, right. Of course not. You're a royally oblivious idiot, duh. (albeit, an incredibly lovable one.)

Yeah. I'll shut up now and let you do the talking. What'cha think's gunna happen next? Next chapter is so full of dramatic irony… I couldn't help it. *chuckles at Arthur and Lancelot* *stops when they glower at me* Ahem. Right. Sorry. I meant… poor guys. I feel so sorry for them… *snorts*

Ohkay. I'll shut up for reals now. *snicker*

As for the next chapter, well, I don't wanna post it up until I think it's perfect (or at least, until my beta does, cuz my opinion's very biased and stubborn, and knowing me I wouldn't think it's perfect for a loooong while). So give me about a week? Maybe less, if I get it fixed before then and I can't hold back from updating. :P I'm very impatient at this sort of thing. But I'll give you a little snippet...

_Arthur's face grew disbelieving, though there was a touch of doubt, uncertainty, there. "They practised magic. It's... forbidden." He was almost, almost, going to say 'evil', but those days were behind him. It wasn't that he didn't believe magic was evil anymore, but he didn't believe it was, either. He wasn't sure what he thought. _

_Morgana smirked. "Only forbidden? See, you do not agree with Uther's law either. You know it's not justified. He will kill anyone, man, woman or child, just for having magic, and he feels no regrets about it. Camelot will be much better without him," she snarled. _

_"Right. And you'll do that by yourself now, will you?" the Prince of Camelot said sarcastically, blue eyes narrowed and like ice. "Tell me, how is your dear sister these days?" _

_Morgana's smirk slid off her face to be replaced with a purely livid look. "Morgause - Morgause is healing," she hissed, but none of them missed the slight tremor in her voice. "And when she is healed, she will come after you. And this time, you and your precious knights will get the short end of the stick." _

_Arthur could only shake his head and grip his sword tighter. "I've had enough of this. Where is Gwaine?" Beside him, Lancelot tightened his own grip and glanced around furtively at all the escape routes of this room. _

_Morgana noticed and ordered her men to block the exits. "You are not going anywhere, Arthur Pendragon."_

Oh lookie, a show-down. xP Not all of it, of course. I wouldn't wanna give away something as big as that. But there ya go. Hope you liked it.

izzy c:

**BTW**, I've got a poll up on my profile! Yay! *pokes poll* Votevotevote! :D I don't know when I'll show the results. It depends. Well? What're you waiting for? Go! :P


	4. Reunions and Confrontations, of a sort

_**No Drinks Allowed**_

A/N: Thirty reviews in three chapters! :D *throws confetti and balloons* Awesome! Let's hope this one makes it to at least 40, yeah? ;) Thank you so much for all those who reviewed and/or favorite'd this. Sorry if I haven't replied to your review, though; I'll try to get to that this weekend. Meanwhile, keep 'em coming~!

.:`:.

**Chapter Four**

When Gwaine realized that the armed men were heading down into a set of tunnels and caves, he thought he should have guessed that's where the knights would come from. He also thought they didn't have much of a chance to escape if they were caught unawares by this big group, but he wasn't too worried on that account - Arthur and Merlin especially seemed to have a knack for getting out of impossible situations.

He followed the guards, staying at the back and trying to be as inconspicuous as he could. The first half of them split up and went through a different route, probably to try and surround them. Gwaine kept following, both chained hands gripping the hilt of the sword. He looked up when something blasted up ahead and was startled to see some bright lights and a few of the guards further up being thrown back amidst the confused yells of others. Gwaine stared, not comprehending what was going on, and inched forward as around him the guards started to scatter. If he listened properly he could hear the same commotion up ahead too and surmised that those were the other set. So who was it blasting them...?

He broke free of the ranks and stared - _gaped_ - at... Merlin. _Merlin_, standing there, eyes flashing gold and sending guards hurtling away if they got too close. _Merlin!_

So he _did_ have magic! Gwaine felt triumphant somewhere in the back of his mind. He _knew_ it!

But he'd deal with that later. Right now he had to get to his friend and find the others - who he just realized weren't there - and get the hell out of here. He started forward, keeping an eye out incase any of the guards noticed him and charged forward. They didn't. Merlin noticed, though.

"_Gwaine_? What - What're you-?"

The young man looked shocked and a little anxious to see the knight here, but Gwaine just grinned easily and clapped him on the shoulder.

"Nice to see you too, my friend, but I think we should get going before those lovely men back there regain their senses." He jerked his head back at the confused guards and Merlin, seeming to shake himself out of his surprise, nodded and grabbed his arm, pulling him along towards the passage he found before. They were well inside before anyone behind noticed.

"Where are the others? Or don't tell me you're here alone," the knight said, nudging Merlin.

He shook his head and kept up his fast pace. "Arthur and Lancelot went inside to find where she was keeping you, and Percival, Elyan and Leon are outside, they're our backup. But now you're here and those two are inside looking for you, and if Morgana catches them..." he shook his head worriedly.

Gwaine nodded then commented lightly, "Well if the witch finds them, you can just use that cute little blasting thing on her and then zap us back to Camelot."

Merlin almost fell flat on his face. As it happened, he caught himself on the wall just in time but he still stumbled before turning to look at Gwaine, a wide-eyed expression of anxiousness on his face, which was pretty funny but Gwaine didn't think it was the right time to laugh at him. "You - You know, then?"

Gwaine looked at him seriously. "Mate, it's hard not to. Especially when you're blasting men back with golden eyes. Though I guessed it ages ago," he added with a hair-flick, a roguish grin forming on his face as they got deeper into the tunnel and turned a corner. "Probably had something to do with, let's see... You throwing plates with your mind at that bar brawl the first time? Pretty obvious there, mate. Or if not then, then definitely with the wyverns - I mean, come on, you expect me to believe you fought them away from Arthur with no sword?" he chuckled and patted the dumbfounded Merlin on the shoulder.

"You realized all that time ago? And you didn't _mention_ it?" he finally asked, when it seemed like they were finally reaching the end of this tunnel.

Gwaine shrugged. "Wasn't my place to bring it up. If you wanted to tell me, you would have. If you didn't, then I didn't see a point in mentioning it. And I thought at first that the Princess knew, but..." he smirked slightly. "I guess Arthur's just too much of an oblivious prat, hey? Well, anyway, no hard feelings Merlin. I'll keep your secret safe," he said sincerely, and Merlin couldn't help the wide smile threatening to take over his face.

"As long as you don't let it slip after you've had too many drinks at the tavern," he mock-warned. They slowed to a cautious walk as the end grew near and they could see the exit showing indoor walls ahead.

"Never!" Gwaine promised, eyes widening and putting a hand over his chest in indignation. "I can't believe you'd even _think_ such a thing. The day I let your secret slip is the day I give up on drinking," he added in a serious voice.

Merlin looked at him for a moment, then conceded, "So in other words, the day the world ends."

"Pretty much," he agreed.

"That's reassuring."

Merlin took a step forward to enter the room visible but stopped when Gwaine nudged him, and looked back. "What?"

"Ah, mind getting rid of these chains?" the knight asked, holding up his hands.

Merlin shot him an amused look. "Couldn't you have gotten the keys from whichever guard you knocked out for those?" He gestured to the armour and sword. Then he took hold of the heavy metal chain and, with a momentary gleam of golden eyes, they fell away.

Gwaine stared at his free wrists in awe. "Well... That's handy. And they don't have keyholes; the evil witch put them on."

"That explains it. Now come on, we need to get going before they catch up."

As the knight followed the young warlock out of the tunnels and into the now-familiar-and-dreary grey chambers, he took notice of the sound of heavy boots running after them, some way back into the passage. Looks like they'd really have to hurry.

.:`:.

Arthur was cursing everything and everyone (and Merlin) as he and Lancelot raced through the castle. Half his mind was worrying about his idiotic friend, the other half was concerned for Gwaine, and then – _somehow _ – in between all that, his mind _still_ found room to be perturbed about meeting Morgana.

He just couldn't get a break, could he?

They'd turned left as soon as they had burst out of the passage Merlin had pointed out to them – the right had ended in stairs which led up, and it made no sense that the cells would be on a higher floor. They had continued to dash through empty corridors, hoping to find – _something_. Stairs which led down somewhere, a smaller passage that headed towards the holding cells, anything which could point them to the right direction –

"Sire, have we been going around in circles?" Lancelot's bewildered voice snapped him out of his thoughts. The prince stopped in his tracks and looked around. The walls were all the same here… there were _no_ doors at all where they had been running, nothing except the occasional staircase leading _up_.

This corridor sure did look a lot like the one three turns back…

Arthur cursed again out loud (Lancelot thought idly somewhere in the back of his mind that if Guinevere heard how many times – and generally _how_ – he swore in the past few minutes, she'd be slightly put off).

"What is this, a _fortress_?" the prince exploded. "Where the _hell_ are the cells?"

"Perhaps we should search upstairs?" Lancelot suggested, nodding towards the staircase in front of them. Arthur nodded impatiently and strode up, sword out and an aggravated scowl on his face. Needless to say, he wasn't very pleased with how things had turned out so far.

They'd been ambushed in the tunnels, had to leave _Merlin_ down there – of all people! – and now had _no bloody idea_ where Gwaine could be held.

"I swear if that _idiot_ gets himself killed down there I will personally wring out his neck," he fumed, making sure there was no-one once they reached the top of the stairs. "What the hell was he thinking anyway, he can't _fight_ to save his life."

Lancelot smartly didn't point out that if Merlin got himself killed, Arthur wringing his neck wouldn't do much. Though he did feel the need to speak up at the claim that his friend couldn't protect himself. "You don't give Merlin enough credit sometimes, Arthur. He's braver than you could ever imagine. Don't dismiss him straight away as useless," he frowned. Lancelot walked ahead, leaving a mystified Arthur behind as he scouted around for anything –

"Oy! You there!" The two knights of Camelot started and turned at the shout. They held their swords out in front of them at the three approaching guards, who unsheathed their own swords.

"Where's she holding him?" Arthur demanded, blocking a strike and slashing forward himself. The guards didn't answer except to charge at the knights. They were no match for them, though. In a matter of seconds, the other three lay dead on the floor and Arthur and Lancelot were running forward in the direction the guards came from. They heard voices around the corner and turned…

"_Morgana_!" Arthur cried out in shock, coming to a sudden halt. Lancelot stopped beside him, eyeing the smirking witch warily.

"Hello, _brother_," said Morgana, voice full of contempt.

They were _really_ trapped this time.

.:`:.

Sir Leon frowned and looked up suddenly, sword out and stance rigid in a moment.

"Hear that?" he muttered to his companions, who listened. They heard distinct yelling and cries coming vaguely from the direction that Arthur, Lancelot and Merlin had disappeared into.

"Do you think they got ambushed?" Elyan asked anxiously, stepping forward, looking ready to barge in.

Leon was silent for a couple of moments, listening intently as the cries went from sounding confused to outraged. They started fading a little, as though the men were moving away.

"I think they might have gotten away," he said eventually, eyeing the castle.

"Should we go in after them?" Percival asked levelly, observing the older knight's intent expression.

"No. Give them a few minutes. We'll wait."

Even as he said it, Leon couldn't help but wish he could have gone in after his prince and be fighting in there with him, rather than waiting out here in the unknown. Judging by the look on Elyan's face, he guessed the other man felt the same. Percival was still quite a mystery for the knight, though.

As the shouts sounded further away and more inside the castle, Leon found himself idly wondering how the prince and his servant would get themselves out of _this_ mess. They'd done it countless times before. Why not now?

.:`:.

Arthur stared at the lady who he once loved like a sister; bantered with, like a sister; and then found out she really _was_ his sister… After what? After she decided to take the throne from Uther.

"Morgana, _why_ are you doing this?" he asked, spreading his arms out to indicate the guards surrounding them, the castle, _everything_.

"Why? Why _not_?" Morgana countered, raising her eyebrows and striding towards them slowly. "I have you right where I want you, Arthur. You've fallen right into my trap."

Arthur scowled, his grip on his sword tightening. "No. I didn't _fall_ into any trap. Do you really think I didn't know you would take Gwaine just so you could catch me? Why else would you do that? And then send a message telling me where you are? I'm not stupid, Morgana. Now tell me – where _is_ he?"

His traitorous half-sister smirked, but her gaze was filled with coldness. "But you are stupid, if you think it will be that easy. Now I can get rid of you and your faithful little knights, and then who will stop me from taking Camelot?"

The prince stared at her, shaking his head. "What happened to you? What - Why are you putting us through this - my father - _our_ father - How could you?"

The sneer on Morgana's face became more pronounced. "I hated Uther long before I found out the truth. And don't ask _me_ how _I_ could do this - How could _you_ live with yourself? You are no better than he is; you stand by and let him kill so many innocent people, and you don't say a word. What did half of them ever do to you, Arthur? Tell me. What crimes did they commit?" She grew more livid with each sentence, and her glare looked like it could smelt them on the spot.

Arthur's face grew disbelieving, though there was a touch of doubt, uncertainty, there. "They practised magic. It's... forbidden." He was almost, _almost, _going to say 'evil', but those days were behind him. It wasn't that he didn't believe magic was evil anymore, but he didn't believe it was, either. He wasn't sure what he thought.

Morgana smirked. "Only _forbidden_? See, you do not agree with Uther's law either. You _know_ it's not justified. He will kill anyone, man, woman or child, just for having magic, and he feels no regrets about it. Camelot will be much better without him," she snarled.

"Right. And you'll do that by yourself now, will you?" the Prince of Camelot said sarcastically, blue eyes narrowed and like ice. "Tell me, how is your dear sister these days?"

Morgana's smirk slid off her face to be replaced with a purely livid look. "Morgause - Morgause is healing," she hissed, but none of them missed the slight tremor in her voice. "And when she is healed, she _will_ come after you. And this time, _you_ and your precious knights will get the short end of the stick."

Arthur could only shake his head and grip his sword tighter. "I've had enough of this. _Where_ is Gwaine?" Beside him, Lancelot tightened his own grip and glanced around furtively at all the escape routes of this room.

Morgana noticed and ordered her men to block the exits. "You are not going anywhere, Arthur Pendragon."

.:`:.

"Where could they have gone? I'm pretty sure there are no rooms down here," said Merlin with a grimace.

He and Gwaine had been turning corners for at least a minute and they weren't getting anywhere.

"Maybe they did go up-" Gwaine cut off as they heard angry voices trailing down the staircase. The two glanced at each other before dashing up to see what was going on. They barged onto the clearing in time to see Morgana order five of her men to surround the exits so that the two knights in the middle – Arthur and Lancelot – couldn't escape, then held out her hand to shout the spell; "_Oferswinge_!" Lancelot dived out of the way but it blasted right into Arthur, throwing the prince back against the wall. He hit his head and fell to the ground, unmoving.

"No! _Astrice!__"_

Everyone in the room turned and stared in surprise as Merlin barged in, aiming his spell at Morgana and blasting her back. She let out a cry of pain and shock as she collided with the hard stone floor, and her guards approached the two knights and warlock, pulling their swords out.

"Lancelot! Get Arthur!" Merlin called out, casting a brief shield around the prince as Lancelot rushed to grab him. He slung Arthur's arm over his shoulder and hauled him up, dragging him along. Gwaine made quick work of two of the guards, pulling his famous manoeuvre and slashing them down with both his sword and theirs.

Merlin threw another guard back, and that cleared the way for them through one route. The other three guards seemed reluctant to attack for the moment, but the three friends could hear the sound of approaching guards - the ones that were chasing them in the tunnels. Merlin led the way through a door, Gwaine and Lancelot following with Arthur held between them. Merlin hoped this led outside.

They dashed down the corridor and turned right up a staircase, then through two rooms and up more stairs, trying to lose the armed men. However, the knight didn't know this castle too well, and they soon found themselves backtracking as the guards came at them from in front.

Gwaine huffed in annoyance as they turned more corners and slowed his running for a moment. Lancelot and Merlin glanced back at him.

"What's wrong?" Lancelot inquired almost impatiently.

"I've been running around all day without a single drop of alcohol!" Gwaine exclaimed, throwing his arms up. "Lance, please tell me you've got something."

Lancelot's eyebrows shot up in disbelief as if to say '_you stopped running because of that?_' but dug out a small flask of ale from his belt anyway. "Thought you might need it."

"Cheers." Gwaine gulped down the drink then sighed in satisfaction, but Merlin grabbed his arm to start running before he could enjoy it for too long.

"Alright, now come on, they're proba-"

Too late. Morgana's men just rounded the corner, bearing down on them with weapons drawn and yelling abuse.

"Ah well," Gwaine shrugged as the three of them jogged back slowly for some space, and wielded the sword more comfortably. "Might as well take some uglies out on our way." And he attacked, Lancelot close at his heels (he'd given Arthur to Merlin). The warlock was trying to think of a suitable spell that would buy them even more time and stall majority of the guards, so that he and his friends could find a way out of there.

.:`:.

It was Percival this time who first noticed, not the silence, rather the lack of it, of the castle. He motioned for Elyan and Leon to get their attention directed towards the castle.

"What's going on now?" Elyan muttered as the sounds of the shouting inside the castle reached them. It seemed to be slowly increasing in volume, and he realised that was because they were moving towards the front of the castle, where the main entrance (and exit) was. He hoped that meant their friends were almost out.

"Elyan, get the horses ready," said Leon, moving forward and pulling out his sword. "Both of you get ready; we might have to fight our way out by the sounds of it." The two knights behind him did as he said, all staring intently at the entrance of the castle.

But they shouldn't have worried about fighting. In less than ten seconds, four familiar men burst out of the building, the two behind supporting the prince, who looked quite dazed and out of it, to put it mildly. Merlin was leading the way, looking like he was praying desperately to whoever was listening that they could get away already.

"Sir Leon!" he all but yelped when he reached their back-up knights, casting an anxious glance backwards. "The horses - are they ready? They're chasing us, but I think we managed to get away-"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the shouts of numerous guards seemed to catch up to them and the doors to the castle were blocked by Morgana's men.

"Thanks, mate, we _really _needed you to jinx that, didn't we?" Gwaine called to him with a sarcastic grin as he helped Lancelot get Arthur onto his horse and made sure he was stable enough not to fall off - that was the last thing they needed, even if the mental image _was _pretty hilarious.

"Let's go!" Lancelot yelled, mounting his own steed. The other knights and Merlin imitated him and then they were off, spurring the horses to run fast and hard so that the small army's marching fell far behind them. Merlin was pretty sure he heard Morgana scream with fury, but they were far out enough that she couldn't get them.

They had all managed to get out, safe and whole - well, except for the barely conscious Arthur, but when was he _ever _not knocked out?

.:`:.

A/N:I hope that lived up to expectations! This chapter was annoying me so much, but it's done now. Yay.

Arthur was very frustrated in this chapter, wasn't he? Poor guy, got so much to deal with. *hands him a cookie* What? No-one can resist cookies! They come from the dark side!- er. _Not _that I'm... implying anything, really... heh... *shifty eyes*

Was everyone in character? As in, the knights? Cuz I'm not sure how to write them. So I used logic and common sense (which I happen to have excess of), and figured that Leon's got the most experience so he would be the one to hand out instructions or whatever. Elyan is... y'know. Elyan. Percival's quiet. Except for the odd helpful remark here and there. Nonetheless, he's awesome.

And we all know about Lancelot. He's the loyal one. Who's very very loyal and a super good mate to Merlin. (He's also emo-ish and stuff, but that's a rant for another time. Other than that, he's pretty cool). Arthur is knocked out. Duh. He has to be; how else could Merlin perform magic? When I initially wrote that scene (or more like, when that scene wrote itself), it was a reveal-scene, where Merlin ran in and blocked Morgana's spell right before it hit Arthur and everyone and everything stood still and stared at him and... Cliffhanger.

Then I stopped and stared at it and quickly changed it. I couldn't make this turn into a reveal!fic, it would've been a lot longer, and needed to be more serious and emotional and stuff, AND it would've taken the focus of the story off Gwaine and Merlin, and turned it to Arthur and Merlin instead. I couldn't have that, now, could I?

But that aside, there's only one chapter left (yeah, this is a short fic). Sad, I know. It was fun writing this... So yeah, tell me what you thought, which bits you liked and didn't (I didn't like quite a few, but that's probably cuz they sounded so much better in my head).

And last thing (why are my ANs always so darn _long_? O.o); thanks Dodo for the confidence-booster for this chapter. :D And the ego inflation. Double thanks for that one. ;)

Cheerz~

izzy.


	5. Back to Normal Sort of

**Chapter Five**

A/N: Only four reviews last chapter…? What happened there? That kinda put a downer on my writing mood soo yea, this chapter's a tad overdue. Also, the fact that I had to rewrite it a couple of times didn't help, but it's here now! The final chapter of No Drinks Allowed… Enjoy, and I'll see you at the bottom! :D (figuratively, of course… that would be slightly creepy…)

.:`:.

The seven friends rode for Camelot for four hours straight before they needed to stop. Fortunately, Arthur had regained his senses soon after they rode off and no longer needed to be watched by the others in case he tumbled to the floor. Unfortunately, they had slacked off watching a certain other knight, until...

"Gwaine!" Merlin yelled as he turned back to see why the rugged knight was so quiet. He was met by an empty horse cantering along and an unconscious Gwaine on the forest floor. Merlin's cry had alerted the others and they all turned around as Merlin jumped off his horse and rushed to his friend's side, mentally cursing himself; why weren't they watching him?

"What happened to him?" Lancelot asked, kneeling beside them.

Merlin didn't answer straight away. He grabbed Gwaine's arm, frowning in concern at how cold and clammy his skin was. He glanced at the other knights. "Help me get his armour off. I can't believe I didn't think of this before - who knows what kind of torture she would've put him through? I need to see the damage done."

Lancelot propped the unconscious knight up and Merlin and Elyan took off the armour. There were gasps and curses all around as his injuries came into full view; the various cuts covering the knight's body, some - the deeper ones - still bleeding, leaving trails of red all over. Add to that the painful-looking wound on his head which was covered in dried blood and the burn marks they noticed across his fingers... well, he was the epitome of _battle-scarred_. Very manly too, of course.

"What the hell did she _do_?" Arthur hissed, his eyes flashing in anger at the sight of what his- _the traitor_ - did to one of _his _knights - one of _his friends_.

"He's out cold from the blood loss," Merlin eventually managed to say, voice tight with fury and worry. "Look, just unpack the horses here and set up camp. I'm going to look over him and we definitely can't go anywhere with him like this."

Arthur didn't even comment on the fact that Merlin was giving orders - _again_ - and nodded at his knights to unpack. They set about getting a fire ready and handing out food and water. Merlin, meanwhile, started working on washing away as much of the blood across Gwaine's abdomen as he could, trying to assess just how deep the cuts were. While he worked, Arthur stayed kneeling next to him, watching silently.

"What do you think all this was for?" Merlin asked him, indicating the injuries.

Arthur scowled. "Torture methods to get information. He obviously refused and she redoubled the pain. That'll be why his hands are scorched."

Merlin nodded with a wince. He bandaged a particularly deep cut along his right shoulderblade and put a wrap-around bandage around his head, covering the gash there. He didn't have any burn salve for his fingers so he just washed and bandaged them too, before getting Percival and Lancelot to help move Gwaine closer to the fire.

Now all they could do was wait for him to wake.

"How was he fighting before, though?" Lancelot finally asked, looking quizzically at Merlin. "If he's been losing blood all this time, why did he only lose consciousness now?"

"I think he's been running off mostly adrenalin," Merlin answered, swirling the contents of his water skin. "And that bit of ale he got to drink when we were there," he added with a wry grin, making some of them chuckle. "It would've been better if he had said something before, but..."

"It's _Gwaine_," Arthur snorted.

"Oy... you're saying that like it's a bad thing."

Six pairs of eyes swiveled to the now-conscious knight and grins broke out on several faces.

"Looks like the damsel in distress has awoken from her slumber," said Arthur mockingly.

Gwaine sent him a crooked grin and sat up. "You're talking, Princess? I wasn't the one knocked out by a _girl_."

Arthur glowered but Merlin intervened before they could start arguing - like always. "Right, that's great and all. Gwaine, you look like hell –"

"Personally, I think it adds to my good looks," muttered an affronted Gwaine. Amused grins broke out on his friends' faces, relieved to see him well.

Merlin cocked his head to the side and studied him contemplatively, before eventually commenting, "You must have really given her hell."

And Gwaine laughed out loud, causing Merlin to grin widely too. "You have no idea."

"Any other injuries we should know about?" Arthur asked drily, obviously implying to the fact that he doubted Gwaine would tell them even if there was.

Sure enough, he shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothing worse than I've been dealt before." His casualness, however, was broken by the wince that followed as he impulsively flipped his hair out of his face. "Bad idea," he muttered to himself.

Merlin immediately sat up, attentive as always. "Your head still hurts?"

"…Would 'feels like I've been hammered by a mace fifty times over then trampled on by a horse' be a good enough answer?"

Merlin looked exasperated and a tad amused as he got up to see if he had anything in his rucksack to help while the other knights laughed.

"It's good to have you back, man," said Elyan, a quirky grin appearing on his face.

Gwaine smiled widely in acknowledgment. "It would be," he agreed. "Who else would call this idiot _Princess _while I'm gone?" He jerked his head at the prince, whose smile dropped to be replaced with a playful glare.

"Watch it, _Sir Gwaine_," he said in his deadly threatening voice (at which Sir Gwaine raised both eyebrows). "You're not off the hook for missing out on training this morning."

He shot Arthur a look while Merlin handed him a small tonic, looking highly amused. "But I wasn't _here_ this morning, your _highness_. Kidnapped, remember?" He grinned roguishly and downed the contents of the vial, making a face as he did so.

"I know. And if you hadn't decided to go the tavern when you had training the next morning, then you wouldn't have been kidnapped and we wouldn't have had to leave training to get you," Arthur smirked, clearly thinking he had a very valid point. Therefore, he was pretty puzzled when Merlin, Gwaine and Lancelot all stared at him oddly, and Elyan, Percival and Leon looked like they were holding back smirks. "What?"

"So you're saying you'd rather do boring training than go on an exciting, butt-kicking adventure?" Merlin quipped, his ever-present cheeky grin creeping back.

Gwaine sighed in mock-resignation. "And here I was hoping he _might_ just prove us wrong and not act like a boring spoilt noble."

Arthur's glower burned holes in their heads for a moment, but then he just shook his head and chose to ignore them instead of counter their words (and most likely set himself up for another twisting of his words, however much he didn't want to admit it).

Gwaine grinned triumphantly at the lack of retort, before looking around at the knights, seeming to remember something. "Oy, where's the ale? I've been suffering here without it – except for that bit Lance gave me. Lifesaver, that was."

Lancelot laughed and Elyan tossed him his flask of mead. "I'm surprised you haven't gone into withdrawal."

"I'm made of stronger stuff," the other knight winked, downing half the bottle in one go. "That's better. They don't serve drinks in enemy holding cells, believe it or not."

"I never would've guessed," Arthur commented drily, watching in amusement.

They sat in comfortable silence for a few minutes, all relieved that they had succeeded in getting Gwaine and themselves out of there, (mostly) unscathed. Concern for Gwaine's injuries seemed to have lessened in the knights' minds as it became clear he was telling the truth when he was saying they really didn't hurt, and his head was obviously better after drinking Merlin's tonic. It was hard to ignore looking at them, though, when the scarring wounds were in plain sight.

Gwaine seemed to realise this and said out loud, "Someone hand me a shirt, will you? I'd rather leave my battle wounds for the _ladies_ to stare at," he grumbled pointedly, receiving some very offended glares.

Merlin got up and rummaged through some of the packs before finding an extra shirt, tossing it over to the knight, who pulled it on gratefully. "No offence, mates, but it gets unnerving when you're all gaping at me like a bunch of awestruck girls," he told them with a lazy grin at the insulted faces of his friends. "I mean, I _know_ I'm good-looking and all, but-"

"Hey, Gwaine - some advice," Leon cut in, eyebrow raised. The younger knight looked at him inquiringly.

"Shut up," Arthur finished off helpfully.

Gwaine huffed dramatically. "You're just jealous," he muttered before downing the rest of the drink in his hand. He sighed in satisfaction - there really was nothing better than the feeling of ale in your otherwise empty (and outwardly scarred) stomach.

"Well, then, I'll go wash up," he said, getting to his feet with the barest hint of pain flashing through his eyes when he inadvertently put his weight on his injured hand on the floor. It seemed that nothing escaped Merlin's eyes though, as he raised an eyebrow in a manner which would have made Gaius proud.

"Try not to put too much pressure on your hands," he told him, eyeing the scorch marks warily. "I don't have any salve for them so you'll have to wait till we get back. And, I don't think it's safe for you to have any more to drink yet – in case your headache worsens," he grinned, much to Gwaine's disappointment. But he didn't argue (much). All he felt like doing right now was getting some proper food into his stomach (and, okay, maybe some more ale if he could sneak it past his friend's eyes), and then sleep.

He couldn't wait to get back to Camelot, though. _Imagine Arthur's face when he loses spectacularly in a sword fight... that should bring his ego down a peg or two... _Though, of course, that would only happen if he got Merlin to cooperate. If he didn't... well... he wondered just how easily persuaded a drunk warlock would be. _Oh the possibilities..._

.:`:.

A week later, back in Camelot, everything was back to normal. The knights trained, Arthur called Merlin an idiot, Merlin continued to use magic in the presence of a very oblivious prince, and most importantly, Gwaine was back to enjoying his free time (_and_ some of his supposed training time) in his second home (i.e. the tavern).

Arthur had threatened to have him cleaning boots for a week with Merlin if he missed one more training session – knight or not. Gwaine had simply laughed, sending a pointedly amused look towards Merlin and commenting, "Well, that shouldn't be too much of a problem, eh Merlin?" to which the just-a-tad-less-secret warlock inwardly groaned. He guessed that Gwaine would have a lot of 'fun' things to ask him to do now that he was in on his secret…

And so it was that one training session found itself missing a particular knight. Arthur scowled and fumed.

"Where. Is. Gwaine?" he demanded through clenched teeth, clearly _not_ amused.

Merlin thought it was a bit of a moot question, since there wasn't really anywhere else he would be…

.:`:.

Off in the Rising Sun tavern, a circle of rowdy, drunken men surrounded an equally drunk Gwaine. He seemed to have them captivated by a highly entertaining tale of a brave knight taking on an army of magical soldiers after being held captive for days on end with no sustenance – specifically ale – and still having the ability to defeat them single-handedly and escape, victorious.

"And then, well, you should have seen it – one mad swipe with my sword and – bam! Five dead and four more mortally wounded – all in one go! They stood no chance," he exclaimed amidst hearty cries and cheers. He took another swig of his mug, unaware that a good half of it spilled down the front of his shirt.

This was the sight that met Merlin when he cautiously opened the door looking for the knight. He took one look at the sight of the ten or so drunkenly cheerful men surrounding Gwaine and laughed as he heard part of the exaggerated story. _Oh boy, was Arthur going to be furious…_

.:`:.

A/N: THE. END.

Yeah, it was short, but I'm pretty happy with it. :) Their interactions are very amusing. And I don't know why I like making them gang up on Arthur - I don't hate him or anything, I swear I don't! He's just so fun to tease... *backs away as Arthur glares my way and threatens to chuck me in the stocks* Sorry, sorry, _sorry_! I blame Merlin! And Gwaine. (Lol at that bit... I can just imagine what Gwaine would get Merlin to do...)

But I digress. I'm sad that it's over. I had a lot of fun writing this, and I reckon that it's pretty awesome for a first-Merlin-story. Not that I'm growing a head or anything... *innocent smile*

But don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you thought. Should I write/plan a follow-up of this? A sort-of sequel? Or a one-shot-sequel-thing, if I don't have time for another chapter-story (though I'll probably find time for it anyway, lol)? I've actually got an idea for a sequel, have started to sort of kinda plan it, but I'll see your responses first. :P

Morgana's obviously very pissed off they got away, so maybe she'll try something. Or it might just be a fun little adventure, seeing as Gwaine's also now in on Merlin's secret! :D *plot bunnies threaten to over-take brain* oh no...

So, a big THANK YOU to everyone who read, reviewed, favorite'd or alert'ed this fic! :) Or all four. :P All your reviews were simply amazing. I feel so loved. xD Even if you didn't review, thanks for reading it. The hits on this story are unbelievable, especially considering it's my first Merlin fic, so - cheers! :D Make me even happier by leaving one last review? ;) You know you want to.

And one more thing – the last scene, with Gwaine's exaggeration of his capture and beating the enemy soldiers and stuff came from something Dodo.123 mentioned. I don't think she was serious, but I liked the idea and I thought, well, it's a short chapter, might as well add something. The writing style changed somehow in that last scene, I don't know what happened. xP But yeah, thanks Dodo! =)

Till next time, then!

~izzy :3

(*pokes profile* look! I've got a new Merlin story up! Sacrificial Limits; contains bromance, angst, Gwaine, Lancelot, more angst, Merlin and Arthur bromance, angst… did I mention the angst? Check it out! Working on chapter two now. :D -shameless advertising-)


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